0083436_EB18E_master_toefl_vocabulary

Study these connectives, paying close attention to their function.

Look at the following example. Note that the connectives are underlined and the ideas connected are circled. Can you determine the function of each connective? If necessary, refer back to the table.

Mr. Green had sent his secretary to pick up his car, which he had taken to the garage in order to have the brakes repaired. While returning with Mr. Green’s car, the secretary, driving on Main Street, entered the intersection at Elm after the light changed from green to red. She sounded her horn but nevertheless collided with a car that had entered the intersection from Elm Street after the light had turned green.

As you read the following passage, underline the signal words and circle the related ideas. Then give the function of each.

When a death occurs, the family has religious, social, and legal responsibilities. If the deceased has left an explicit set of papers in an accessible file, arrangements will be much easier for the family to make. For example, such papers should include the deed for a burial plot (if there is one), a statement as to whether cremation or burial is desired, a copy of the birth certificate, and the names and addresses of all family members and friends who should be notified. Furthermore, the papers should include information on bank accounts, safe deposit boxes, and insurance policies, as well as the will. The person in charge of the funeral will need

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to know how much money is available in order to determine the expenses he or she may reasonably incur for the family.

If feasible, the person who makes the funeral arrangements should not be one of the bereaved. A melancholy widow may not be able to make objective decisions regarding expenses, such as for a coffin. Whoever makes the funeral arrangements realizes that he or she is deputized to make legally binding contracts with a funeral director and others, which will probably be honored some months later when funds from the estate are released.

One of the duties of the person in charge of the funeral is to prepare a death notice for the newspapers. Often the mortician arranges for the insertion of the notice. Included in the information should be the date of death, the names of the family members, and the time and place of the forthcoming interment.

Vocabulary Builder 1

Directions: Choose the correct synonym for the following underlined words.

1.The deceased left you all of her jewelry.

(A)missing person

(B)dead person

(C)wealthy person

(D)relative

2.She left explicit instructions regarding her burial.

(A)vague

(B)exciting

(C)irregular

(D)clear

3.Because the information was easily accessible, we found it immediately.

(A)acceptable

(B)accessory

(C)reachable

(D)probable

4.Property deeds belong in a safe-deposit box.

(A)actions

(B)legal papers

(C)wills

(D)addresses

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5.He was careful not to incur too many bills for the widow to pay.

(A)inquire

(B)pay

(C)acquire

(D)change

6.A funeral is a melancholy event.

(A)meaningful

(B)medical

(C)expensive

(D)sorrowful

7.The family deputized a close friend to make the funeral arrangements.

(A)disputed

(B)deprived

(C)delegated

(D)dispatched

8.The funeral director gave the death notice to the local newspaper.

(A)obituary

(B)funeral

(C)burial

(D)biography

9.The undertaker waited three months after the funeral for his bill to be paid.

(A)tax collector

(B)beginner

(C)mortician

(D)priest

10.In tropical countries, the interment takes place within 24 hours of a death.

(A)intermittent

(B)burial

(C)mourning period

(D)interruption

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Vocabulary Builder 1 Answers

1.The correct answer is (B).

2.The correct answer is (D).

3.The correct answer is (C).

4.The correct answer is (B).

5.The correct answer is (C).

6.The correct answer is (D).

7.The correct answer is (C).

8.The correct answer is (A).

9.The correct answer is (C).

10.The correct answer is (B).

Now try to find the signal words and their functions in the following paragraph.

The Central Park Conservancy raised $39,000 in private donations to employ twenty-five high school students from the New York area. With commendable zeal, the participants are embellishing the park, as well as weeding and cleaning unkempt areas. Although their employment is merely interim work over the summer, the youths share an affinity for horticulture. Collaboration with the Conservancy only whets their appetites for further endeavors with nature and ecology.

Vocabulary Builder 2

Directions: Choose the word that best completes the sentence.

1.John and Mary _______________ on all their books; she writes the text and he does the artwork.

(A)study

(B)collaborate

(C)discuss

(D)divide

2.His efforts to keep the peace were so _______________ that he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

(A)lucrative

(B)mercenary

(C)commendable

(D)heavy

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3.They worked from dawn to dusk with such _______________ that they were exhausted.

(A)boredom

(B)detraction

(C)debility

(D)zeal

4.Before they sold their house, they spent two months _______________ it.

(A)trying

(B)embellishing

(C)sifting

(D)planting

5.The _______________ in the program were high school students.

(A)donations

(B)endeavors

(C)gardens

(D)participants

6.In the _______________ between shows, the actress went to Paris.

(A)rush

(B)closing

(C)interim

(D)practice

7.He felt such a close ____________ for animals that he became a veterinarian.

(A)distaste

(B)affinity

(C)approach

(D)likeness

8.A bite of chocolate cake only _______________ my desire for more.

(A)spares

(B)lets

(C)changes

(D)whets

9.Working in the park stimulates his interest in _______________.

(A)archaeology

(B)horticulture

(C)zoology

(D)biology

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10.We’ll have to clean up this _______________ yard before the guests arrive.

(A)tired

(B)unlikely

(C)undone

(D)unkempt

Vocabulary Builder 2 Answers

1.The correct answer is (B).

2.The correct answer is (C).

3.The correct answer is (D).

4.The correct answer is (B).

5.The correct answer is (D).

6.The correct answer is (C).

7.The correct answer is (B).

8.The correct answer is (D).

9.The correct answer is (B).

10.The correct answer is (D).

Here is a longer passage. Look at the first sentence. Can you guess what the article is about?

Before you do the vocabulary builder that follows the reading, locate all the signal words and determine their functions. You will probably find that this will help you achieve a better understanding of the information included here.

Divorce settlements attempt to make an equitable distribution of a couple’s assets. Wrangles are common over who gets the car, the furniture, or the dog, but people overlook future needs and income. Two important issues will have to be decided by the courts. Can the divorced wife continue to have health coverage under her former husband’s policy? Is the divorced wife entitled to a share of her ex-husband’s pension?

So far the subject of health insurance has created much dissension. Most insurance companies exclude former wives from their definition of a worker’s dependents. In order to circumvent his ex-wife’s exclusion from his health plan, many a husband has concealed his divorce from his employer. Divorced spouses of military men anticipate that a newly approved bill will allow them 180 days’ medical coverage and continued coverage for serious ailments if they were married for at least 20 years during their husbands’ service career.

Ex-wives are faring better in the pension-sharing dilemma than they are in obtaining health coverage. The courts have set a precedent in awarding pension funds to divorced women, particularly if there are defaults in alimony and childsupport payments. Nevertheless, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act prohibits the payment of a pension to anyone other than the worker. Litigation of ex-wives seeking a share in their former husbands’ pensions contends that the

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ERISA was passed for the purpose of protecting workers from creditors’ attempts to attach pensions, not from their ex-wives. In a recent decision, the Supreme Court gave exclusive pension rights to the military retiree whose retirement plan is not under the jurisdiction of state property laws. On the other hand, the former wives of retired foreign service personnel are legally entitled to a share of these retirees’ pensions in proportion to the length of their marriage.

Obviously, there is no panacea for the ills besetting the legal system. Divorced women can only pray for significant benefits from future legislation.

Vocabulary Builder 3

Directions: In this exercise, put the number of the synonym in Column B beside the word in Column A.

Answers

a.The correct answer is 6.

b.The correct answer is 7.

c.The correct answer is 4.

d.The correct answer is 1.

e.The correct answer is 5.

f.The correct answer is 9.

g.The correct answer is 2.

h.The correct answer is 8.

i.The correct answer is 3.

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8.It is difficult to _______________ additional material in a manuscript once it has been prepared for the printer.

9.He gave a generous _______________ to the public television station.

10. Thousands of runners _______________ in the annual Boston Marathon.

Vocabulary Builder 4 Answers

1.The correct answer is legislation.

2.The correct answer is anticipation.

3.The correct answer is litigation.

4.The correct answer is object.

5.The correct answer is celebrate.

6.The correct answer is selection.

7.The correct answer is anticipates.

8.The correct answer is insert.

9.The correct answer is donation.

10.The correct answer is participate.

Vocabulary Builder 5

Directions: Choose the correct synonym for the underlined word in the following sentences. Use your dictionary if you need to.

1.Tom insisted upon a fair share of the partnership’s profits.

(A)spare

(B)division

(C)merit

(D)help

2.The president held a brief press conference.

(A)documented

(B)long

(C)pleasant

(D)short

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